20 Facts About Jerzy Dudek

Jerzy Henryk Dudek is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Jerzy Dudek left his country in 1996 at age 23, joining Feyenoord, but had to wait a year before he made his debut, proceeding to appear in all Eredivisie matches the following four campaigns combined.

Jerzy Dudek won the Dutch Golden Shoe award in 2000, becoming the first foreign player to win the award.

Jerzy Dudek played his final game for the Rotterdam side against Ajax on 26 August 2001.

Jerzy Dudek was voted by fans at number 36 in the list of "100 Players Who Shook the Kop".

Jerzy Dudek's teammates agreed to wear black armbands for the match.

On 15 July 2010, Jerzy Dudek accepted another one-year contract to stay with Real Madrid.

Jerzy Dudek was successfully fitted with an intermaxillary fixation device and was out of action for six weeks before returning to training, and was praised for his performance by stand-in manager Aitor Karanka.

Jerzy Dudek received his first call-up for Poland in 1996 as an unused substitute during an exhibition game against Russia in Moscow.

Jerzy Dudek won his first cap in February 1998 in another friendly with Israel, and captained the team once in a friendly against Estonia.

Jerzy Dudek played nine of the national team's ten 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers as they finished top of their group, and started in the finals in Japan and South Korea, where they exited at the group stage.

Jerzy Dudek played in seven of his country's ten qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup, but owing to a lack of appearances at club level during the season, he was dropped from the starting line-up in favour of Artur Boruc and left off the final squad as a result.

Almost four years later, Jerzy Dudek played his farewell game on 4 June 2013 against Liechtenstein.

Jerzy Dudek captained the team, wore number 60 on his shirt and came off just before half-time.

Jerzy Dudek was named as the ambassador for the 2015 UEFA Europa League Final in Warsaw.

Jerzy Dudek's father was a miner and he spoke of himself having taken training to follow in his father's footsteps before his opportunity to play football came along.

Jerzy Dudek refused to wear the 13 shirt for two seasons after arriving at Real Madrid, stating that Polish goalkeepers generally do not use 13; the numbers 1,12 and 22 are traditionally used.

Jerzy Dudek therefore took number 25 as it was the next best thing while Codina wore 13 until his departure.

Jerzy Dudek stated he would like to start a football academy in Poland with his brother after retiring from football.

In 2014, Jerzy Dudek completed his first full season in the Volkswagen Castrol Cup, a racing championship held at circuits around Eastern Europe during the summer months.